Jungle catfight begins!

The contestants have yet to don their jungle fatigues and the creepy crawlies which will feature on the menu are still in their cages.

But the sniping has already started behind the scenes on the latest series of I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here!

Hostess Tara Palmer Tomkinson and glamorous contestant Sophie Anderton have had a simmering feud ever since millionaire Robert Hanson dumped Tara seven years ago and took up with Sophie.

And the signs are that it could boil over at any time.

Tara, 32, who came second to Tony Blackburn in the initial version of the hit series in the Australian jungle, presents the ITV2 editions while Ant and Dec are in charge on ITV1.

She has already insisted that she will not show up for any pre-show meetings attending by Sophie, 27, who found fame as a teenager modelling Gossard bras.

Producers have been warned they will have to stage-manage proceedings at the party's hotel to ensure they do not bump into each other while Tara said she would rather not interview Sophie if and when she is voted out.

In her column for a weekly magazine, Tara yesterday fired her first salvo saying: 'I must admit I have my reservations about some of the contestants - and sexy model Sophie Anderton in particular.'

A source close to her yesterday said: 'Tara can't stand Sophie and is really annoyed that the producers signed her up. She has already told them that they had better keep Sophie well away from her.

'She deliberately avoids going anywhere where Sophie is going to be in London - and now she finds she is going to be stuck in the Australian Bush with her. It's her absolute worst nightmare.'

Tara, the It girl whose parents are close friends of Prince Charles, was devastated when Hanson finished with her after a year-long relationship. Despite becoming close to Sophie, the son of the recentlydeceased industrialist Lord Hanson tried to keep up a friendship with Tara, leading to fireworks from his new and possessive girlfriend.

Matters are said to have come to a head when Hanson hosted a party at his £4million home in Gloucestershire and, without telling Sophie, invited Tara.